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Hersh
| age = | born = | death = April 15, 2014 | occupation = Fixer Cleaner Assassin | affiliation = "The Project" (Northern Lights) | associates = Special Counsel Control | title = | family = | residence = Washington D.C., U.S. | playedby = Boris McGiver | first = | latest = | last = }} Robert N. Hersh, generally referred to as Hersh, is the alias of an operative who works with "the Project". His character is introduced when he is ordered to remove evidence of Alicia Corwin's murder from the 8th Precinct. He is unquestioningly loyal to the Project, undertaking a range of tasks as needed to protect it or forward its aims, usually on the orders of Special Counsel and later, Control. Little is known about Hersh's background, except that he he is a capable interrogator. He is or has been responsible for training government operatives, among them Shaw. As part of his work, he eventually becomes aware of the existence of the Machine, which he calls Research, when following Root across the country to where she believed it was kept. Character Background 2010 Hersh interrogates a young middle eastern man named Asif, who was planning the bombing of a ferry. Following the interrogation, he shoots the translator assisting with the interrogation. When Hersh and Special Counsel become aware of Nathan Ingram's plans to make the nature of the Machine public, they realize they have the weapon they need in Asif. Hersh takes a drugged Asif to the ferry terminal and leaves him strapped to the wheel as an apparent suicide bomber. Ingram is killed, and Finch injured in the subsequent bombing, leading Finch to fake his death in order to protect his fiancée Grace. Ingram's funeral was not seen, but was referred to by Alicia Corwin and Will Ingram. 2012 The investigation of Alicia Corwin's murder is assigned to the NYPD 8th Precinct. Special Counsel quickly dispatches Hersh to clean up any evidence of their activity. Hersh steals Corwin's case file and corrupts any digital records along with the ballistics report. As a result, her murder remains an unsolved case. Special Counsel also sends Hersh to track down Denton Weeks, who disappears on private business and is later found dead after Root shoots him. To clean up any remaining loose ends, Hersh goes to Alicia's hotel room to collect her personal effects. Later, he gains access to Corwin's body at the morgue, removing an RFID chip implanted in her arm. 2013 When Special Counsel learns of John Reese's activities helping Henry Peck , and subsequent arrest with three other men at a bank , he instructs Hersh to kill Reese and the others. Hersh arranges his own arrest. Taken to Rikers Island, he manages to kill Brian Kelly, one of the four. However, his attempt to kill Reese is foiled by Carl Elias. Hersh is soon freed from Rikers Island, and tracks Reese to the Coronet Hotel, where he captures him at gunpoint. Hersh and Reese engage in brutal hand-to-hand combat with Reese defeating Hersh by inflicting a near-fatal wound. . While recovering from his wound in the hospital, Hersh is summoned to Washington, D.C., where Special Counsel briefs him on Sameen Shaw, one of Hersh's former trainees, now an agent from the Project. Hersh returns to New York where he poisons Shaw. Unknown to Hersh and Special Counsel, Shaw survives due to the efforts of Reese and Finch. Special Counsel's kidnapping by Root soon sends Hersh in pursuit of Root. His team kills the long-hidden Lawrence Szilard, the only survivor of the group who developed the permanent location of Machine, when Root leads them to him. Later he, his men and Special Counsel arrive at the place where the Machine is stored, only to learn that the Machine moved itself to a new location. On orders from a mysterious woman, Hersh kills the remaining Project staff, including Special Counsel. Later, Hersh meets the woman and tells her that Research (the Machine) has made contact, and is directed to get a team together, indicating Hersh now works for her. is told to spare Hersh's life. ]] Hersh is tasked with searching area mental institutions in an effort to locate Root. He finally succeeds in locating her and the Machine assists Root in shooting Hersh but then prevents her from killing him. Finch shows up and finds that Root is gone, and Hersh is incapacitated, lying on the floor. Hersh later appears with his men and holds Finch, Shaw and Arthur Claypool at gunpoint. Arthur's wife Diane is revealed to be Control when Hersh addresses her as "Ma'am", and she declares that whoever gives her the location of their Machine - Arthur or Finch - stays alive. After Root saves Arthur, Finch and Shaw, Hersh shoots Root in the arm to stop her from escaping. As members of Vigilance raid the bank where the drives of Arthur's machine Samaritan are being kept, Hersh and other agents follow them there, posing as a SWAT team. Upon entry, they kill multiple members of Vigilance. Hersh follows another member, and just as his agents have the man surrounded, he sets off a grenade. Hersh survives the blast and is seen again sitting in a cafe surveilling a new relevant number when Shaw, having spiked his coffee with a drug, approaches him to question him about another number. Hersh is revealed to have placed ISA agents on the flight on which the number is travelling. Notable victims *Unnamed translator: shot by Hersh *Nathan Ingram: killed in an explosion at a ferry terminal on Hersh's, Control's, and Special Counsel's orders *Brian Kelly: choked and made to look like he hung himself in jail *Lawrence Szilard: shot by a member of Hersh's team *Special Counsel: shot on the order of Control *Unnamed engineer where the Machine was located: shot on the order of Control *Two attempts on Reese's life failed, as did an attempt to poison Sameen Shaw, as well as unintentionally injuring Finch and numerous other people caused from an explosion at a ferry that was caused by Asif on Hersh's orders. *Two failed attempts to kill Root. Notes *His real first name is George, stated by Shaw in A House Divided. *Hersh learns about the Machine in , but refers to it as Research, the name used by members of the Project team. Although he was aware of Research prior to this time, he did not know its exact nature, and he was assigned a white box. At the end of "God Mode" he is seen with a yellow square, indicating his new awareness of the Machine itself. *It is possible that Hersh is a former Intelligence Support Activity (ISA) operator given that, in , he explains to Special Counsel that he trained Sameen Shaw. Appearances Season 2 * * * * * * * Season 3 * * * * * * es:Hersh Category:Characters Category:Recurring Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Antagonists Category:U.S. Government Category:Characters with Yellow Box Category:Season 2 Recurring Characters Category:Season 3 Recurring Characters